Comments for East Side Public Education Coalitionhttps://espec.wordpress.com
Promoting strong public schools for Providence\'s East Side and beyondSun, 15 Jul 2012 04:38:23 +0000hourly1http://wordpress.com/Comment on The Word on the Street… by hrichmdhttps://espec.wordpress.com/2012/07/12/the-word-on-the-street/#comment-15771
Sun, 15 Jul 2012 04:38:23 +0000http://espec.wordpress.com/?p=1047#comment-15771Michael Lazzareschi (comment above) is the Principal of Nathan Bishop Middle School.
]]>Comment on The Word on the Street… by Mikehttps://espec.wordpress.com/2012/07/12/the-word-on-the-street/#comment-15770
Sat, 14 Jul 2012 18:29:13 +0000http://espec.wordpress.com/?p=1047#comment-15770All,

Nathan Bishop met 14/14 required targets on the previous reporting system, and increased our percentage of students proficient in English and Math by 11 and 12%, while decreasing the percentage of students in the lowest category by 9%. For the new reporting system, (based on the same data) – the achievement gap between different subgroups of our population, and their growth weighted heavily on our ranking. Although we made progress, it appears that it was not substantial enough to change our ranking in this new system. I will soon be meeting with all staff and the district to begin to develop and implement additional strategies to increase the academic achievement of all of our students and decrease the existing gap.

We look to involve parents in these efforts by participation in a more substantial School Improvement Team as well as clear and consistent communication from school as to the progress of future academic interventions. As I have told staff, this is an opportunity for us to pull together and not apart as we take action to meet the needs of all our students in our diverse school community

As always, I greatly appreciate the support of the community in making Nathan Bishop Middle School the best it can be.

Mike

]]>Comment on The Word on the Street… by Kirahttps://espec.wordpress.com/2012/07/12/the-word-on-the-street/#comment-15769
Sat, 14 Jul 2012 14:29:25 +0000http://espec.wordpress.com/?p=1047#comment-15769Thanks Karen. Good thoughts. It is surprising and curious to me that RIDE does not realize parents are paying attention and care. Data should come with detail as to how it was formed and how it is being interpreted. This labeling has consequences – intervention – and from what i understand, RIDE does not provide the funding. So where does the money come from?
]]>Comment on The Word on the Street… by Karen Seilerhttps://espec.wordpress.com/2012/07/12/the-word-on-the-street/#comment-15768
Sat, 14 Jul 2012 14:10:37 +0000http://espec.wordpress.com/?p=1047#comment-15768I’ve also been following the breaking news on the school classifications which labels NB as a Focus school requiring intervention. From what the newspaper said today, it was a combination of low scores in proficiency AND wide achievement gaps between student groups that led to the low rating. According to RIDE’s website, NB scored 9 out of 30 points on proficiency, and 16.5 out of 30 on achievement gaps between subgroups. Includig other factors, the total score was 51.33 out of 100. (But it met 14 out of 14 targets from the previous system). Compare that to Woonsocket Middle school which received a Typical ranking with a score of 51 out of 100 and met only 11 out of 18 targets which begs the question of how they really assigned the rankings.

They can say that the rankings aren’t driven by the NECAP results, but they clearly are, as the main criteria is the % proficient results and the measurement of the results on the test between subgroups.

It is also worth remembering that the Providence School Department closed two large failing middle schools in the last two years, and those students ended up at other schools, including Bishop.

Harlan, your post is great. i really enjoyed reading it and have many positive thoughts as well as hopes for NB. please read this press release. NB has been labelled a “focus” school which is at the bottom 4% in the state. “Focus and Priority schools are considered the lowest-achieving schools in the state and are subject to state intervention…” This is quiet a contrast to your post today ( and as an aside i do know many families whose children are doing very well at NB…. so what gives?) i called the guy on the press release. he said it was not due to “achievement gap” but was due to an overall low proficiency rating. 9 out of 30, one of the lowest in the state. i further questioned this as the ride report card on NB didn’t seem match up, but then again, i am not a numbers gal. i think we need to demand answers from RIDE. if you are going to put out a press release labeling a school – give us the info. surely there is more? Kira Greene

]]>Comment on The Word on the Street… by Linda Borghttps://espec.wordpress.com/2012/07/12/the-word-on-the-street/#comment-15763
Fri, 13 Jul 2012 03:31:50 +0000http://espec.wordpress.com/?p=1047#comment-15763Harlan
bishop is on warning status under he new classification system. Any thoughts on why?
]]>Comment on In support of our friend, colleague, and Councilman, Samuel Zurier by Cliff Woodhttps://espec.wordpress.com/2012/02/17/in-support-of-our-friend-colleague-and-councilman-samuel-zurier/#comment-15571
Mon, 20 Feb 2012 13:42:33 +0000http://espec.wordpress.com/?p=1020#comment-15571Clearly, the councilman could have handled this situation more adroitly. Just as clearly this incident, as interpreted in the press, is a misrepresentation of Sam’s character and quality of public service. It’s time move past it and let Sam carry on with his good work.
]]>Comment on Whither goest criterion-based-hiring? by kathy Crainhttps://espec.wordpress.com/2012/02/12/whither-goest-criterion-based-hiring/#comment-15562
Fri, 17 Feb 2012 01:13:02 +0000http://espec.wordpress.com/?p=1004#comment-15562Hi Rosemary,
I completely understand your post. You certainly have no reason to believe me, but I honestly did try. In retrospect, I was not prepared for the Providence political scene and all the crap that goes along with it. I had no political experience, so I listened to the politicians when they kept telling me that we would be bankrupt if we didn’t do what we did. And when I began to disagree, I tried to do it behind closed doors, in a manner that didn’t result in front page news, and clearly my efforts did not pay off. I think I still have an email from the Mayor telling me to feel free to resign if I disagreed with his policies. And that’s why I finally quit. I realized (or hoped) that I could effect change more from the outside than from the inside. Because if you sound the alarm while you’re on the inside, not only are you blackballed, but you feel threatened. But if you do it from the outside, you actually have a voice. I’m sorry you don’t believe me, but you are certainly entitled to that opinion. I hope that the work I’m still trying to do will make you realize that at the end of the day, I want a public education system that provides kids with a quality education, parents with a voice, and teachers with an administration that treats them with respect and fairness.
]]>Comment on Whither goest criterion-based-hiring? by Rosemaryhttps://espec.wordpress.com/2012/02/12/whither-goest-criterion-based-hiring/#comment-15561
Fri, 17 Feb 2012 00:53:14 +0000http://espec.wordpress.com/?p=1004#comment-15561Kathy,
You want people to believe that you were sounding the alarms, but nobody saw you or heard you. Now that you’ve quit the school board I’ve seen and heard from you more than ever. I’m sorry. I just don’t believe you.
]]>Comment on Whither goest criterion-based-hiring? by kathy Crainhttps://espec.wordpress.com/2012/02/12/whither-goest-criterion-based-hiring/#comment-15557
Wed, 15 Feb 2012 18:47:08 +0000http://espec.wordpress.com/?p=1004#comment-15557Hi Rosemary,

Actually, I did try to do something about it. The School Board wanted to bring an independent auditing company in to oversee the interviews so that it wasn’t a popularity contest, but because the Mayor had already locked us out of negotiations, the Union didn’t entertain the offer because they thought they could get a better deal out of Taveras, who only cared about seeing some financial savings in the contract. Feel free to ask Steve Smith (the union president) or follow up with someone in the Mayor’s office. The School Board was blamed for a lot of decisions that we had no control over. And we had a lot of ideas that were ignored. Believe me, I wish I could have done more, but the writing was on the wall and so I resigned.

We have some good news too. The Hope High Dollars for Scholars website is up and running and we are accepting applications for scholarships for Hope High seniors headed for college or higher education. We hope those of you who are Hope alums and friends will also consider a donation.

Jane Rosenbloom Bermont
President
Hope High Dollars for Scholarsjbermont@aol.com

]]>Comment on Whither goest criterion-based-hiring? by Rosemaryhttps://espec.wordpress.com/2012/02/12/whither-goest-criterion-based-hiring/#comment-15544
Mon, 13 Feb 2012 03:34:38 +0000http://espec.wordpress.com/?p=1004#comment-15544“And as I’ve mentioned before, my experience with CBH (as a School Board member and then as a parent) was that it never really was about putting the best teacher in the classroom, it was more about putting the most obedient employee in the school.”

Did Mrs. Crain do anything about what she’s saying above? I didn’t hear her say a peep about this before. Here is my peep.

]]>Comment on Whither goest criterion-based-hiring? by kathy Crainhttps://espec.wordpress.com/2012/02/12/whither-goest-criterion-based-hiring/#comment-15540
Sun, 12 Feb 2012 15:09:30 +0000http://espec.wordpress.com/?p=1004#comment-15540p.s. if anyone plans to complain about it tomorrow night at the School Board meeting, they were forced by City Hall to change the time to 5:00 pm so that they could be present at the Mayor’s State of the City Address to show their support.
]]>Comment on Whither goest criterion-based-hiring? by kathy Crainhttps://espec.wordpress.com/2012/02/12/whither-goest-criterion-based-hiring/#comment-15539
Sun, 12 Feb 2012 15:08:04 +0000http://espec.wordpress.com/?p=1004#comment-15539Thanks for this update, Harlan. I think it’s important to remind everyone that this is a contract that was devised by the Mayor and then approved by a unanimous City Council. If there is blame to be had, those two entities deserve their fair share (I’ve recently heard that a local professor uses this/the Jabbour Bill case study as an example of city politics gone bad in his political science class). The Superintendent had no role in it, and now she is trying to make the best of it. And as I’ve mentioned before, my experience with CBH (as a School Board member and then as a parent) was that it never really was about putting the best teacher in the classroom, it was more about putting the most obedient employee in the school. Just as the new principal at Vartan Gregorian was told by a chief at PPSD that one of her main jobs was “to put those VG parents in their place”, the teachers are often chosen based upon who will make the least amount of noise. What a mess. This whole process needs an independent consultant to figure out the best way to make sure that this process is not about politics and not about popularity contests, but about effective classroom teaching.
]]>Comment on There they go again… by hrichmdhttps://espec.wordpress.com/2012/01/15/there-they-go-again/#comment-15472
Mon, 16 Jan 2012 04:42:07 +0000http://espec.wordpress.com/?p=978#comment-15472Interestingly, the Projo’s own PolitiFact column questions some of the assertions made in favor of the AF Charter Application, which were used to support the Projo editorial position:

]]>Comment on ESPEC Statement (Letter) on the Achievement First Mayoral Academy Charter School application by Jill Davidsonhttps://espec.wordpress.com/2012/01/08/espec-statement-letter-on-the-achievement-first-mayoral-academy-charter-school-application/#comment-15463
Mon, 09 Jan 2012 14:06:43 +0000http://espec.wordpress.com/?p=960#comment-15463And for those who may have missed it, this opinion piece echoes several of our concerns: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dan-ross/a-charter-school-prayer-f_b_1189125.html

“In the face of our current educational crisis, how can we stand idly by while we have proof of concept for extended school days and school years, and fresh best practices in pedagogy, professional development, human capital strategy, teacher evaluation, and instructional leadership? Why are we leaving it to the charters to do the scaling up of these new models themselves by expanding their own fundamentally limited networks instead of implementing them en masse?”

]]>Comment on More on Achievement first and “school reform”… by Ryhttps://espec.wordpress.com/2011/12/15/more-on-achievement-first-and-school-reform/#comment-15440
Sat, 17 Dec 2011 21:23:55 +0000http://espec.wordpress.com/?p=940#comment-15440Ahhhh, did not read the fine print . Thank you.
]]>Comment on More on Achievement first and “school reform”… by hrichmdhttps://espec.wordpress.com/2011/12/15/more-on-achievement-first-and-school-reform/#comment-15439
Sat, 17 Dec 2011 19:37:20 +0000http://espec.wordpress.com/?p=940#comment-15439Nope… comments close automatically after 2 weeks… says so right on the site:

So… if you have something pertinent to add to the conversation, there should be plenty of time to do it!

]]>Comment on More on Achievement first and “school reform”… by Ryhttps://espec.wordpress.com/2011/12/15/more-on-achievement-first-and-school-reform/#comment-15438
Sat, 17 Dec 2011 13:30:16 +0000http://espec.wordpress.com/?p=940#comment-15438Gotta love how comments get closed when opposing views are put forth…
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